It is well known in the art to equip both upright and canister vacuum cleaners with a cleaning wand. The wand is of tubular construction and is connected to the suction generator of the vacuum cleaner through a flexible hose. The wand is detached from the main body of the upright vacuum cleaner or a nozzle assembly of the canister vacuum cleaner for purposes of specialty cleaning. Specialty cleaning includes but is in no way limited to tight corners where insufficient clearance exists for cleaning with the upright vacuum cleaner or nozzle assembly. It also includes above floor cleaning applications such as the cleaning of dirt and debris from upholstered furniture, the tops of baseboards, windowsills, draperies or the like.
An important feature of any vacuum cleaner of this type is the ability to quickly and conveniently release the wand for the specialty cleaning applications. The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner equipped with just such a quick release wand.